Despite all the advances in medical treatment in recent years, a number of diseases remain difficult to treat. A number of these diseases are ones often associated with advancing age, although certainly they are not exclusively afflictions of the elderly. Cancers, for example, remain a leading cause of death in humans, despite advances in the field of cancer treatment. The leading therapies to date are surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Many types of chemotherapeutic agents have shown at least some effectiveness against certain cancers and tumor cells, but the efficacy of these agents can vary significantly, and their side effects can be severe.
Hormones, in particular estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, and some antibiotics, alkylating agents, and anti-metabolites form the bulk of therapeutic agents available to oncologists. Scientists continue to search for cytotoxic agents that have specificity for cancer and tumor cells, yet do not affect normal cells and have minimal side effects.
Other diseases which remain significant include hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis and diabetes.
Present treatments for diabetes include the administration of insulin either orally or through an injection solution. Also, glucose may be administered either directly, as through injection, or indirectly, as through ingestion of certain foods or drinks. Other methods of treating diabetes include the use of implantable glucose systems which have been designed to provide continuous measurement of the patient's glucose concentration. The use of implantable insulin pumps also can be used for the treatment of diabetes.
Such above described treatments for diabetes require lifelong treatment of the patient. For many patients insulin injection is an unpleasant process. Also the need for daily injections of insulin is hard on the patient's veins. Insulin treatment is costly and it is only a temporary reliever of diabetic symptoms. Continued treatment is necessary in order to control the disease. Therefore, there is a need for a remedy in treatment for diabetes which is easily administered to or by the patient.
Alzheimer's disease is believed to be an organic brain disease with primary invasions within the brain. Its etiology remains for the most part unknown. However, the current knowledge suggests that Alzheimer's disease is characterized by organic brain damage at least secondary to some preceding causative event. Current proposed treatments include the administration of substituted 1,4-benzoquinone derivatives including idebenone and corresponding hydroquinone derivatives. Current treatments have been of limited efficacy, and new and alternative treatments are sought.
Hypertension stresses the heart and can contribute to coronary artery disease, heart attack, and stroke. High blood pressure contributes to 75 percent of all strokes and it is estimated that half of all people who have a heart attack and two thirds of those who have a first stroke have high blood pressure. Over the past ten years, the number of deaths due to hypertension has increased by forty percent. Persons with hypertension often are advised to make lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise and can be given various types of medications, including diuretics, alpha blockers and beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers. Although all of these medications can be helpful, they also can have undesirable side effects, and further treatments are sought.
Persons with osteoporosis suffer from their bones becoming porous due to the deterioration of bone tissue. Eighty percent of osteoporosis sufferers are women. It is estimated that eight million women in the U.S. alone have osteoporosis. One in two women over fifty will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture in their lifetime. The disease also affects about two million men in the U.S., and one in eight men over fifty will suffer from an osteoporosis-related fracture.
There currently is no cure for osteoporosis. Current therapies work to slow the progression of the disease. Preventive measures include calcium supplementation and regular weight-bearing exercise. Treatments include the administration of either of two types of drugs, ones which slow or inhibit bone formation or drugs which accelerate bond formation. Additional effective treatments are sought.
Research into all of these diseases has indicated that unregulated levels of zinc, either per se or in the form of zinc-containing or PGE2-dependent matrix metalloproteinases in body fluids and tissues, are associated with the onset and/or advancement of these diseases. As a result, attempts have been made to inhibit or to regulate the concentration of zinc and these enzymes in the body.
Methods for inhibiting matrix metalloproteinases used in the past include the use of hydroxamic acid derivatives such as alpha-amino sulphonyl hydroxamic acids and carboxy-peptidyl compounds. Natural products such as TIMP-1, TIMP-2 and alpha 2-macroglobulin also are known matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors.
Although these inhibitors have been of interest, other easily manufactured compounds and compositions which can regulate the concentrations of matrix metalloproteinases, zinc and cadmium in the body fluids and tissues of a patient are sought.
Also sought are new methods for screening persons to determine the presence of, or their risk of developing, one of these diseases.